


Ice crystals in your veins

by Banashee



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [13]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Cuddling & Snuggling, Friends to Lovers, Huddling For Warmth, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Relationship, Protective Tony Stark, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24719026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Banashee/pseuds/Banashee
Summary: Steve and the freezing cold do not mix well. One day, he accidentally locks himself in a walk-in freezer and panics, therefore being unable to get out on his own.Thankfully, Tony is around to help him with much more than just getting warmed up.(The last sentence sounds like porn but it's really not.)*+~Part 13 of my Bad Things Happen Bingo. Square: Locked in a Freezer
Relationships: Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1701046
Comments: 12
Kudos: 112
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo





	Ice crystals in your veins

**Author's Note:**

> Hi,  
> so, because I love a good writing challenge, I'm now taking a part in the Bad Things Happen Bingo.  
> https://badthingshappenbingo.tumblr.com/  
> Please mind the tags!
> 
> I'm cross-posting this to my tumblr, https://banashee.tumblr.com
> 
> This is my thirteenth square: "Locked in a Freezer".

****

**Ice crystals in your veins**

The thing is, when Steve looks back at the situation, he feels incredibly stupid even though he knows that this is not the case. But knowing something and feeling it in the moment are two entirely different things - he knows that, too, even when it is no help whatsoever when he sits crumpled on the floor, knees drawn up to his chest and panicking. His breath is way too fast, and it comes out in little clouds that almost freeze in the air.

It shouldn’t have taken him longer than a few minutes tops to go down to the basement and get some more ice cream out of the walk in freezer. There are a lot of people here at the compound, and stocking up on stuff is a lot easier that way. 

But then the door falls shut behind Steve, who hasn’t slept right for days and it’s so cold in here, it reminds him of being frozen in the arctic ocean, reminds him of Bucky asleep in cryo for decades, and he startles, badly. 

Then, he realizes that he is locked in. 

Something heavy drops in his stomach and suddenly, he is no longer relaxed. He is not relaxed at all. 

When his first attempt at prying the locked door open fails, even though it’s something he’d normally be capable of doing if he wasn’t so blindsided by the sudden turn of situation, the messy thoughts and the biting cold overwhelm him and he starts panicking. 

Steve shuts down entirely, collapsing onto the freezing cold concrete floor and pulling himself together as tight as he possibly can. Despite being tall and built like a brick wall, he is able to curl up into an incredibly small ball - old habits die hard, even after he’s just about doubled in size. 

Everything is crashing down on him, memories flashing through his head and Steve pulls on his hair, eyes squeezed shut. His hands are shaking, but his grip is white knuckled, painful - he only realizes it faintly. Breathing hurts, too, and Steve loses every sense of time. 

If it wasn’t for the serum running through his veins, he would have passed out from the cold. Everything in him is starting to shut down, and he’s starting to lose feeling in his limbs - sitting on the floor sure doesn’t help, and his body temperature drops rapidly.

Steve can feel the tears and snot on his face freezing into thin tracks of ice. If he wasn’t so completely out of it, he’d be grossed out and ashamed of himself, but as it is, he doesn’t give a shit. 

Faintly, he can hear the door opening and a voice exclaim,

“Hey, what’s taking you so long? Have you gotten into the stack of Ben & Jerry’s or - what the fuck! Steve are you okay?”

Quick steps make their way across the room and then there are gentle hands on his arms, and they’re warm - the sudden change of temperature hurts at first, but he knows it is necessary, even in his sorry state of panic.

The voice - Tony, his brain informs him sluggishly, the constant stream of chatter is so clearly and familiarly Tony, keeps talking to him, hands keep rubbing warmth into his skin. 

He somehow manages to pull Steve up and from the floor, arms wrapped around his torso and he’s warm, so much warmer than anything else in here. The greater weight of the Captain causes Tony to stumble sideways into a shelf of frozen vegetables, but he catches them both and drags Steve outside with him, leaving behind a mess and doesn't care. 

The next thing Steve notices is that he’s wrapped up in thick, woolen blankets in a guest room and the sound of tireless chatter about… Electronic engineering? comes from his chest area where Tony has made himself comfortable on top of him, talking and still rubbing more warmth into his skin. They must be laying down, but despite everything, Steve can’t deny that this is nice and it helps him feel better - human contact is much needed. It’s been a while since he’s allowed himself to be held by someone, but now he practically melts into the embrace. 

Letting out a long breath, Steve hugs back and burrows his head further into Tony. He responds by running one hand through his hair and interrupts his science speech to ask,

“Hey, you with me?” to which Steve just nods wordlessly.

“Okay. You’re safe and I’ll stay here and get you warmed up, so I’m afraid you’ll have to deal with my cuddly ass for a while.”

That startles a laugh out of Steve, but he tightens his hold around the smaller man and he can feel Tony smile against him. It seems he’s gotten the reaction he’d hoped for. 

“Thank you, Tony.” Steve says quietly and very much grateful for the company. After everything, the last few months - hell, the last few years, he’s so incredibly happy to be able to be close to someone, not having to worry about anything. The stream of chatter in his ear is comforting, too - he didn’t even follow half of it, but it’s nice to just listen to another human being’s voice.

“Wanna talk about it?” Tony asks him carefully a little while later. Steve considers that for a moment.

Both of them are quiet in the meantime, simply enjoying the contact. It’s hot under the blankets and with the shared body heat, not to mention the fact that it’s September which still feels pretty summery here. But it helps Steve to feel alive again. He’d much rather be hot than too cold.

“I was going to get more ice cream out of the freezer. But then the door accidentally fell shut, completely locked, I don’t even know how. It startled me, and the cold got too much. I couldn’t get the door open again and started panicking. It… It just makes me think of many things I’d rather not think about. But, uhm. I’m very glad you got me out - really, thank you.” 

They stay like that for the rest of the evening, wrapped around each other and talking about nothing and everything. After a while, the woolen blankets piled on top of them are way too hot, finally, and they ditch most of them in favor of the covers on the bed with only one additional blanket. They still cuddle up under that, and when nighttime hits, the two of them fall asleep there, still in an embrace and still able to feel and hear each other's heartbeats. 

It’s the best night’s sleep either of them gets in a long time.

When he wakes up the next morning, it takes Steve a little while to figure out where he is and what happened the day before. When it all comes back to him, surprisingly, he doesn’t panic again. 

He finds that he isn’t alone, what with Tony still wrapped around him and snoring softly into his shirt, which is new and exciting and simply wonderful. Right then, something eases in his chest. Steve lets out a breath of quiet relief and tightens his hold around Tony. It’s too early to do anything really, so Steve remains just where he is, comfortable snuggled up and falling back asleep just moments later. 

Sleep comes easy with company, and Steve wishes for this to last for a much, much longer time than one single day of sleeping in could ever give them.

But the morning naturally ends and he mourns the loss of this comfortable closeness. It doesn’t last long though. As he’ll find out later, this will be far from the last time they spend the night together and they’re both one hell of a lot happier for it. 

Steve still avoids going into the walk in freezer whenever he can. No one says a thing about it, which he is grateful for, not wanting to discuss his cold-related trauma in detail over and over again but he knows that his team is supportive no matter what. Life goes on.

Tony still installs FRIDAY into the room. Just in case.

*+~

**Square: Locked in a Freezer**

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings:  
> \- panic attacks / PTSD  
> \- symptoms of freezing, body shutting down


End file.
